Palin Says Sputnik Brought Down Communism

In criticizing the State of the Union address and in particular Obama's reference to this country needing a "Sputnik moment", Sarah Palin had another one of her "moments" yesterday on "On The Record with Greta Van Susteran". Here's what she said:

"He needs to remember that what happened back then with the former communist USSR and their victory in that race to space. Yeah, they won, but they also incurred so much debt at the time, that it resulted in the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union, so I listen to that Sputnik talk over and over again, and I think we don’t need one of those.”

Apparently she is confusing the Space Race with the Arms Race. Sputnik happened 34 years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Arms Race did not, in fact, bring down the USSR -- the Soviet economy was already in shambles and on the verge of collapse, but at least one could argue that point. There is absolutely no way that the money spent on Sputnik resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In addition to getting her history wrong, she misinterpreted the entire context of what Obama was saying. He wasn't saying we should be like the Soviet Union in building Sputnik. He was saying we need to be more like the America that responded to Sputnik. We saw that blinking light flying overhead and we realized someone had beat us, and it launched a new era of innovation and advancement in this country. The "Sputnik moment" was a call to action for the United States.

One can make the argument that the space race was an arms race. The prospect of Soviet nukes in orbit must have been petrifying. One could also argue that we did not take Soviet technology seriously until Sputnik and consequently pursue a policy of engagement by proxy, diplomacy and the space race. All aspects of US-Soviet relations were colored by the Cold War. The missiles used to put John Glenn and Yuri Gagarin in orbit were developed from the V-2 rocket.

Sarah Palin isn't wrong in that the "Sputnik Moment" resulted in a more committed and engaged American public. Subsequent to the great push for all that math and science literacy we see a big turn-on, tune-in and drop out by the "Sputnik" generation and a continued decline in American education. Shining Handsome Obama must miss that drug culture on American campuses.

You know, I used to have so much respect for Palin. however, after reading into what some of you guys have said about her, and what i've researched since, I can officially say i lost a lot of respect for her. It's a shame too, as i thought she was probably one of the best politicians (pre-vice presidential run) out there. now she's just another joke. kind of sad if you ask me. however, i guess life goes on then.

Yeah, Palin did seem to somewhat misinterpret Obama. So what? Every really listen to any leading Democrat, the president included? Ask yourself who wrote that line for Obama anyway. He certainly doesn't seem to have any firm grasp of history. I recall Mr Obama saying Lincoln was his favorite president, because Lincoln respected the rights of those who disagreed with him. WTF?? No historical knowledge at all. Palin is at least average.

John, something you need to realize, and it may have been the same in the UK - the terms "communism" and "socialism" are used synonomously in most of the US. You and I know they are very different things, but many don't or don't want to believe there is a difference. Having grown up as a child of the Cold War (just like you) these terms were beat into our heads and still solicit an uneasy feeling when we hear them. Propoganda? yeah, but still very powerful...

Yes, the "Sputnik Moment," was in reference to the increased funding/concentration on math and science that occured in the late 1950's in the United States spurned on by our fear that the Soviets would indeed surpass us in the race to space. And arguably it worked - we made it to the moon in basically less than a decade. Unfortunately we no longer have a true idealogical foe to "kick us in the as*" as it were. But yet again, Sarah Palin with her third-grade understanding of history opened her mouth and reminded me just why two years ago I voted the way I did...

Speaking of foes, many politicians in the past decade have tried to make terrorists the big foe (though they are not really a nation, and existed well before 9/11) into the big foe to pit our war machine against. I have a hunch who is next..communists..terrorists..Martians

Yeah, she blew it once again (although her worshipers won't be deterred I'm sure).

But to be fair, it's long been a staple of the Capitalist Party's official version of history that Reagan brought down the the Soviet Union single handedly by upping the arms race, forcing them into a cycle of military spending that eventually bankrupted them.

Of course history is always more nuanced than that, and many factors brought down the communists (not least of which is the fact that they weren't actually communists but I digress).

The real question is, will people ever realize that Reagan and Bush were the biggest Presidential spenders ever, despite calling themselves fiscal conservatives?

I do believe a congressman from texas named wilson helped bring down the soviet union for the first time. Too bad our country can't remember how easy it is to defeat a super power in afganistan. orperhaps those making the decisions remember the expenditures made for both sides and wish to repeat the profits they enjoyed the forst time around.

Sarah Palin is a walking 'reverse-sputnik-moment'. Instead of being inspired by the accomplishment of a rival, our dear SP is a marvel of mediocrity, ignorance and religious intolerance who is a beacon to - no surprise - mediocre, ignorant, religious bigots.

These people have always been with us - and probably always will - but this is the first time in American history that such an idiot was considered a serious contender for the Oval Office.

Whoa there, William R Wilson!You can't just start throwing words like "nuanced" into a thread about Sarah Palin We're still trying to sort out what a "Sputnik Moment" is.You're getting way ahead of us in talking about Reagan and Bush and the fall of Communism. Some of us can't keep up !

Sarah Palin isn't wrong?She missed the entire point of what Obama meant by AMERICA'S "Sputnik" moment. Her entire "analysis" (and I use the term loosely) relates to what happened to the USSR after Sputnik -- she thinks that Sputnik caused the economic downfall of Communist Russia.

I have to believe that Mrs. Palin's Russian-centric worldview must be the result of Alaska's close geographic proximity to Russia. She has put herself out there as an expert in Soviet trade relations. Now she's a Russian historian, too.

Didn't it result in a reinvigorated, focused and engaged America? Isn't that what eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union?

As to the "Sputnik" moment it is hardly an apt analogy but he cannot use the "putting an American on the moon" analogy since he is defunding NASA, turning it into a Muslim out reach program(his policy position - not my exaggeration,) and eschewing the American exceptional-ism that lead us to the moon?

"Sputnik" did nothing but beep and flash as it orbited the Earth providing a propaganda tool for the Soviets. Perhaps that is the real "Sputnik" moment the beeping and flashing of Shining Handsome Obama while 40% of the unemployed now enter their 2nd year without work, inflation is infiltrating, the Chinese are hinting at dumping the dollar and Michelle is starving her husband.

Actually what likely lead to the Soviet Union's collapse was a combination of a failed economic system frought with vast corruption and a protracted war in Afghanistan.... kinda hits a little too close to home, doesn't it?

Well by unintentionally comparing the US to The USSR rather than to Kennedy's "we do these things because they are hard," or Reagan's "shining city on a hill," SHO gives us an image of the triumphant communists and a weary America. Perhaps that is his subconscious' comparison. He, like Bezhnev, Andropov and Gorbachev presides over a collapsing state and a failed ideology. Maybe I was wrong, maybe "Sputnik" is an apt comparison after all.

No I think the President's point was simple: we can't continue "business as usual" and still remain competitive. And here's the kicker - our international competition hasn't spent the last two years endlessly debating on whether their leaders "bowed too deeply to a foreign dignitary," or debating where their leaders were born. Our competitors, the ones who are currently kicking our a&&, are snatching up international patents for alternative energy research and development and we aren't. We aren't because it's somehow become "anti-American" to seriously consider that our resources (fossil fuels) aren't going to be around forever. And the best is - guess who we'll be buying energy off of in the next few decades? Yeah - at this rate, it won't be from American companies - it will be from the Chinese, the Brazilians, and the Israelis. I think the President's sublte point is the following: we can't just arbitrarily villify an emerging industry or industries because it might eventually put someone out of business. Conservatives had made it almost their religious mantra to do so.

Yes, seeing that our arch nemesis had beat us into space did result in a reinvigorated, focused and engaged America.There is no immediate causal relationship between our response to Sputnink and the collapse, decades later, of the Soviet Union.

But why would Sarah Palin say we, America, the country she supposedly loves and (presumably) wants to lead, say we, America, would NOT want another "Sputnik moment?"Because she misinterpreted what Obama meant.

You can connect dots intelligently, uncorrectedvision.Maybe you should volunteer to coach Mrs. Palin.She needs serious help.

This is what Democrats used to sound like. A faith in America's greatness and a desire to pursue that greatness. Now Democrats regularly choke on the same agenda that JFK embraced. What happened to make Democrats clench when they hear "God Bless America," or "America is the greatest country in the world." Ronald Reagan had far more in common with JFK than SHO does.

Besides, SHO is a miserably pedantic and condescending speaker compared to both RR and JFK who continually demonstrated immense respect for the American people rather than sound like some snotty adjunct professor.

I have yet to see the blazing intellect of SHO or the benighted idiocy of GWB. Interesting enough, for an idiot he sure got Hillary, the smartest woman in the world, John (I wish daddy had left me in boarding school)Kerry and the Democrat lead Congress to support his two crazy wars and his evil spending agenda. What a doofus.

UC, please excuse the crudeness but the only connection between Reagan and JFK is that JFK had a trickle down episode with Marilyn Monroe.

//A faith in America's greatness and a desire to pursue that greatness//

There is a difference in American seeking knowledge and putting it to use and waiting for it to trickle down from actors and beauty queens.

How do we expect our students to excel when we insist on editing knowledge to suit the dumbest in our society. Stupidity isn't trickling down, it's in a head long race to the destruction of our country.

What happened to make democrats clench when they hear “god bless America” ??

Not a democrat or republican, but I don’t understand what the slogan means.Is it commanding god to bless America?Is it asking God to bless America?Does it mean telling God to bless America and no other country?What the hell does it mean?I have decided that the slogan “God bless America” is ignorant, lame and selfish.Oh…don’t forget shallow and stupid.

We will never know the full extent of Kennedy's potential, will we?I myself do not cringe when I hear "God Bless America" -- I kinda like that song. However, I must confess to wishing MLB would go back to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch. Knowing that baseball is America's sport is good enough for me. We don't have to further politicize our sporting events (IMO).

America is the greatest country in the world, aka "American exceptionalism" has been usurped by the Tea Party as one of its mantras. We cringe because they use it ad nauseum.

The cringing predates Obama's election. He, in his own written words, cringes at the notion of America's greatness. As for Kennedy's greatness, he was great at filling the White House pool with hookers and concealing his drug addled condition from the treatments for Addison's.

Let's get back to the OP. If you want to open a thread about the comparative speaking abilities of various American presidents, by all means do so.

We were talking here about Sarah Palin's woefully WRONG interpretation of Obama's speech. And honestly, when I read, before the SOTU that he would be using that term, I had to look it up. But in point of fact, Obama EXPLAINED what he meant by the term and Palin STILL got it wrong.She would be a lot more effective in her criticisms if she got at least some of her facts straight.Oh wait -- her sheeplike followers don't care a whit about accuracy or facts! My bad.

Well maybe she was too busy planning the next violent outbreak caused by a campaign graphic and mean talk by those big radio meanies Rush, Hannity and Beck.

I find it amazing to hear anyone complain about Palin when SHO was presided over the most rapid rise in National Debt and Budget Deficit in US history as well as the most protracted period of unemployment in 75 years while all the time "talking" about fiscal discipline and how focused he is on job creation.

Every time he talks he talks about fiscal responsibility and job creation. Every time he acts he spends more money and kills more jobs. Yet this absurd juxtaposition doesn't disturb you. What disturbs you is that Sarah Palin doesn't accept SHO's words as meaningful. Well neither does he.

MM, heres an idea. How about the right show one example of her speaking with out the impediment of her foot being planted firmly in her mouth. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, you simply type a question into the search box and hit enter.

for example, I typed

Here's a response from the christian coalition...She also signed a proclamation declaring September to be energy efficiency month in Alaska. She encourages residents to use energy more efficiently during this month.

This one is hilarious...When an official is elected to office, he/she should be elected according to past history and accomplishments.

What is her history...quiting jobs she was elected to for personal financial gain. That is the best reason for me to promote her, her history of selling out to the highest bidder, aka murdick, the owner of the Faux News Palin Paycheck signer.

Actually, yes, you are right about another point, UCV.The cringing had started before Obama got elected.We learned the cringe response during 8 years of Bush and his swaggering cowboy act. Those of us who see America as part of a global community do have a problem with posturing. It tends to alienate other countries (which I'm sure you've noticed from comments from our international hubbers).

Perfect description, PDP.Ranks right up there with the "we must stand with our North Korean allies" speech.And Africa is a country.And I live in Alaska which is close to Russia so that gives me international relations experience.And so many others...

You do realize that Alaska is the only state that borders no other state but instead shares an international border with Canada and international waters with Canada and Russia - her point was valid if poorly made.

Corpseman, 57 states, etc... who is free from gaffs when subjected to 24/7 recording of their every word. Look back at Al Gore gaffs or even better Joe Biden gaffs some time.

UCV: In response to your commens:1. You missed that one - he doesn't find his words meaningful, either.He doesn't? The president doesn't find his own words to be meaningful? You are right. I missed that one because it makes no sense!

2. You do realize that Alaska is the only state that borders no other state but instead shares an international border with Canada and international waters with Canada and Russia - her point was valid if poorly made.The fact that Alaska shares international waters with Russia doesn't give Mrs. Palin the right to claim she has experience dealing with the Russians.That's like me saying, I live in California and went to Mexico once. So that makes me a diplomat.Sorry. Does not compute.

Corpseman, 57 states, etc... who is free from gaffs when subjected to 24/7 recording of their every word. Look back at Al Gore gaffs or even better Joe Biden gaffs some time.3. You are kidding me, right? You are comparing Sarah Palin to Barack Obama, Al Gore and Joe Biden?That's like comparing an unprepared junior high school debate team member to someone arguing their Ph.D. thesis.Insulting. Truly insulting. But of course, that's the idea, isn't it?

"I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now. … When one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That's me. I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway." --Joe Biden, providing handy tips to protect against the swine flu and freaking us out, "Today Show" interview, April 30, 2009

"You know, I'm embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number? I should have it in front of me and I don't. I'm actually embarrassed." –Joe Biden, speaking to an aide standing out of view during an interview on CBS' "Early Show," in the midst of encouraging viewers to visit a government-run Web site that tracks stimulus spending, Feb. 25, 2009

"If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong." --Joe Biden, speaking to members of the House Democratic caucus who were gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for their annual retreat, Feb. 6, 2009

"Jill and I had the great honor of standing on that stage, looking across at one of the great justices, Justice Stewart." –Joe Biden, mistakenly referring to Justice John Paul Stevens, who swore him in as vice president, Washington, D.C., Jan. 20, 2009 (Watch video clip)

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened." –Joe Biden, apparently unaware that FDR wasn't president when the stock market crashed in 1929 and that only experimental TV sets were in use at that time, interview with Katie Couric, Sept. 22, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me." --Joe Biden, speaking at a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, Sept. 10, 2008 (Source)

"A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States — Barack America!" --Joe Biden, at his first campaign rally with Barack Obama after being announced as his running mate, Springfield, Ill., Aug. 23, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." –Joe Biden, referring to Barack Obama at the beginning of the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, Jan. 31, 2007 (Source)

"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." --Joe Biden, in a private remark to an Indian-American man caught on C-SPAN, June, 2006 (Watch video clip)

"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you're providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy." —on Wall Street reform, Quincy, Ill., April 29, 2010

"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy Corpse-Man Christian Brossard." –mispronouncing "Corpsman" (the "ps" is silent) during a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2010 (The Corpsman's name is also Christopher, not Christian)

"The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries." --Tampa, Fla., Jan. 28, 2010

"UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? It's the Post Office that's always having problems." –attempting to make the case for government-run healthcare, while simultaneously undercutting his own argument, Portsmouth, N.H., Aug. 11, 2009

"The Cambridge police acted stupidly." —commenting on a white police officer's arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., at a news conference, July 22, 2009

"It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian, wheeling and dealing." --confusing German for "Austrian," a language which does not exist, Strasbourg, France, April 6, 2009

"No, no. I have been practicing...I bowled a 129. It's like -- it was like Special Olympics, or something." --making an off-hand joke during an appearance on "The Tonight Show", March 19, 2009 (Obama later called the head of the Special Olympics to apologize)

"I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances." --after saying he had spoken with all the living presidents as he prepared to take office, Washington, D.C., Nov. 7, 2008 (Obama later called Nancy Reagan to apologize)

"I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." -- defending his tax plan to Joe the Plumber, who argued that Obama's policy hurts small-business owners like himself, Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 12, 2008

"What I was suggesting -- you're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith..." --in an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who jumped in to correct Obama by saying "your Christian faith," which Obama quickly clarified (Watch video clip)

"I'm here with the Girardo family here in St. Louis." --speaking via satellite to the Democratic National Convention, while in Kansas City, Missouri, Aug. 25, 2008

"Just this past week, we passed out of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee -- which is my committee -- a bill to call for divestment from Iran as way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon." --referring to a committee he is not on, Sderot, Israel, July 23, 2008

"Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under a McCain...administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change." --Amman, Jordan, July 22, 2008

"How's it going, Sunshine?" --campaigning in Sunrise, Florida

"On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today -- our sense of patriotism is particularly strong."

"Hold on one second, sweetie, we're going to do -- we'll do a press avail." --to a female reporter for ABC's Detroit affiliate who asked about his plan to help American autoworkers (Watch video clip)

"I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go." --at a campaign event in Beaverton, Oregon (Watch video clip)

"Why can't I just eat my waffle?" --after being asked a foreign policy question by a reporter while visiting a diner in Pennsylvania

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." --explaining his troubles winning over some working-class voters

"The point I was making was not that Grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know, you know, there's a reaction that's been bred in our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way, and that's just the nature of race in our society."

"Come on! I just answered, like, eight questions." --exasperated by reporters after a news conference

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed." --on a Kansas tornado that killed 12 people

I hope you have recovered from the rum and coke out the nose!That's gotta hurt ... your pride!

"...she can see a Russian history book from her house."She may see it, but she'll never read it!She's way too busy reading MAGAZINES!Which magazines, you innocently ask?"All of 'em."Yup, she's a real voracious reader, she is.

Oh my goodness! Really? Did she really make that proclamation? September as energy efficiency month in Alaska?Ok, so from there we might extrapolate that she is an experienced energy policymaker. Or given her Russia experience, and INTERNATIONAL energy policymaker!Am I getting warmer? !I would love to stay and play -- this sounds like a fun game.But my hubby just pointed out that "Behind the Sitcom Scandals" is coming on and I really need a break from all this high level discussion. RFLMAO on that. Luckily no rum and coke out the nose tho Night!

UCV,I want to thank you for your research and for posting the gaffe examples for Biden, Gore and Obama.You've proved your point.And there are some pretty funny ones in there, to boot.Just goes to show all lawyers are NOT silver-tongued orators .

Still, these are smart and accomplished men. Argue all you want that real-life experience and "street smarts" are just as valuable. Not when it comes to understanding complex concepts and formulating federal policies... I'm just sayin.

Joe Biden Education: Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware, the University of Delaware in Newark,where he double-majored in history and political science. He went on to receive his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and was admitted to the Delaware Bar.

Barack Obama Education: After graduating high school from Punahou School in Hawaii, Barack Obama attended Occidental College for two years, then got his B.A. from Columbia University. He later got his law degree from Harvard Law School (where he became the Harvard Law Review's first African American president), graduating magna cum laude. Obama was also a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.

A logical fallacy is, roughly speaking, an error of reasoning. When someone adopts a position, or tries to persuade someone else to adopt a position, based on a bad piece of reasoning, they commit a fallacy. I say “roughly speaking” because this definition has a few problems, the most important of which are outlined below. Some logical fallacies are more common than others, and so have been named and defined. When people speak of logical fallacies they often mean to refer to this collection of well-known errors of reasoning, rather than to fallacies in the broader, more technical sense given above.

Have a little Wikipedia:

Appeal to accomplishment is a genetic fallacy wherein Person A challenges a thesis put forward by Person B which criticizes Person C (or A) a due to the fact that Person B has not accomplished similar feats or accomplished as many feats as Person C or Person A.

Rebutting this appeal has been popularly called "Ebert's Law", referring to Roger Ebert's ability to critique films irrespective of his accomplishments as a filmmaker. [1]

Bush followed his father and grandfather in education at Phillips Academy and Yale University, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1968 and where he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Skull and Bones Society. He then received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. He is the first president with an MBA degree.

Bush enrolled in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War and served as an F-102 pilot for a period until he was grounded after failing to appear for a mandatory physical exam and drug test.

His grades at Yale were in the low C to D range. Sure he got an MBA but getting a degree, and graduating with honors are two very different things.

He seems quite bright to me, Jim. Here's something you may not know: it's hard to tell how much smarter someone is compared to yourself. You might not even realize that rhey are, but if you do, you won't be able to say by how much. Going the other way is much, much easier - you can peg someone not so smart quite accurately.

I'm quite sure I know where you fall. You probably expect some veiled insult to follow that, but that's not my intent. You are not an unintelligent person - misguided and filled with far too much misinformation, of course, but your processing power is not inadequate.

I wish I could say the same about most who share your politics. But you don't mind being lumped with them, that's plain enough. If the people who shared my views were mostly ignorant fools, I think I'd be embarrassed, but you don't mind at all (or would never admit it, anyway).

I'm reminded of the look on John McCain!s face when that idiot woman told him that Obama was a Muslim. I know he had to be embarrassed that such ignorami were his base.

Don't you ever feel a little like that, Jim? I mean like McCain, of course. Yes, I know you hold your views honestly and that you have thought them through. But doesn't it sicken you just a little to see the words of some of those who share them?

I still say she is just a smart distraction. The more she opens her mouth the more the media ignores everything else that is going on in politics. And, it seems that there are a lot of boo hoos coming from people like her, who have shown no interest whatsoever in saying what they are going to do for this country. Stop all of this back talk, and start the smart talk.

Well, you're the person who thinks that death threats are just fine. That pretty much destroys any credibility your moral judgments might have. I don't really care what you think about John Kerry's military service, friend.

Okay, I'm curious. Would you mind explaining why death threats don't bother you? Is it because you think they are meaningless, or what? I'm genuinely curious about your thoughts and promise not to turn it into a contentious debate if you respond.

Edited to add: I've never been threatened, but I've been stalked and it really gets to you after awhile. You start to wonder if they're off kilter enough to stalk you after repeatedly being told to go away, what else will they do and how far will they go?

These comments are just sad. The people who actually knew and served with John Kerry have made it clear that he deserved the recognition he received during Vietnam. The Swiftboaters, who have clearly fooled the likes of Jim, did not serve with John Kerry. Of the 80-something Swiftboaters who went on the record to say that they did not support Kerry, few had ever served in the same unit as Kerry or even known him. The man who went on TV and said "I served in Vietnam with John Kerry" actually just served in Vietnam at the same time as John Kerry... along with hundreds of thousands of other troops. His statement might be technically factual, but I'd like to see Jim say with a straight face that it wasn't misleading. The Swiftboating attacks on Kerry were one of the ugliest and most unpatriotic campaign tactics of the past generation, and Jim and other Republicans celebrate it as a crowning achievement.

Thank you, Jim!I gave UCV a compliment and even admitted his Biden, Gore and Obama gaffes were funny. Went right over his head. Or else he deliberately ignored it.Oh well.I do like to give credit where credit is due. It's rare, but it does happen

Related Discussions

Web-site/URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100516/ap_ … pvaW5zYXI-OK this bill MIGHT have SOME supporters, but Sarah Palin is a lunatic with NO credibility and NO political future. Palin wants to prove that she is American by keeping foreigners out and that's it.

This past election there was a lot of energy created in the choice by John McCain to have Sarah Palin as his running mate. What do you feel was the reason for this choice and how do you think she was qualified to be the Vice President. Could you please be factual with your replies to...

I blame Hilary Clinton for this. Hilary created the benchmark for political female "hotness" or "not-so-hotness". And when Palin crashed the scene, everyone suddenly thought she was a supermodel. Thanks Hilary. I have a sneaking suspicion that under Palin's pants...

Alaska set to release thousands of Sarah Palin emails"The messages date from Palin's first days in office in December 2006 through September 2008â��a period that covers most of the presidential election, but not her time as McCain's running mate. This release of correspondence also does...

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)

Google AdSense Host API

This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Facebook Login

You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Maven

This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)

We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.

Conversion Tracking Pixels

We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.

Statistics

Author Google Analytics

This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)

Comscore

ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)

Amazon Tracking Pixel

Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)